Tuesday, January 28, 2014

US Navy Status Report;MK V Special Operations Craft

US Navy personnel as of November 2013 numbered 323,951 active duty and 109,738 Ready Reserve,for a total of 433,689 in uniform.They were supported by 201,000 civilians in the Department of the Navy.*
Battle force ships and submarines totalled 283.That is 17 short of the Navy's stated goal of 300.There are also a number of unnamed force protection,Coastal Riverine Force and Special Operations armed small boats.
One of these small,little known combat vessels is the MK V Special Operations Craft.It inserts and extracts Navy SEALs and possibly other Special Operations Forces in low to medium threat environments.The radar-equipped boats can be transported to theatre by ship or US Air Force C-5 Galaxy aircraft;are deployable in 48 hours;and operational in 24 hours from delivery in theatre.These Halter Marine-built vessels carry up to four Combat Rubber Raiding Craft to transport the SEALs to and from shore.
With a crew of 5 and up to 16 passengers,the 82 foot-long Special Operations Craft can sail at a formidable speed of 50 knots for more than 500 nautical miles.The MK V is armed with an assortment of up to 5 .50-caliber,7.62mm or Mk19 40mm machine guns.

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